Independent scrolling

[MAL]

I have not found this topic in another thread.

Is there any way to independently scroll through the files being compared? It would be useful for me to do that right now. It would also be helpful to re-compare the files after re-aligning them.

[Aaron]

Hello,

We do not have independent scrolling. We do, however, offer an Align With tool in the right-click menu that should allow you to realign your text. Does that tool help with your current needs?

[mbg]

Independent scrolling would be a nice feature to be able to toggle when necessary.

I just came across a case where a bunch of lines had been removed from the middle of one file and added to the end of a 2nd file (with slightly changed content). Visually comparing these lines is difficult when they are in different areas of the file.

[Aaron]

Hello,

This is something on our Customer Wishlist. However, in the current version we consider the order of text important to the comparison. The best method to deal with this is to have your file text in the same order, so that it is aligned and manual scrolling is not necessary. One way to achieve this is with an external conversion program. We have a few available for download here:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/downl...kb_moreformats

We also have a KB article that details how to create a custom file format that uses any command line application here:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/suppo...rnalconversion

[Zoë]

For simple one-off cases, the best approach is to use either "Compare Selection to Clipboard" or "Align Manually".

Compare Selection to Clipboard:
- Select the text on the left that's moved, and copy it to the clipboard.
- Select the moved text on the right and use the "Compare Selection to Clipboard" command. BC will open a new text comparison of just those two bits of selected text.


Align Manually:
- Select the text on the left that's moved.
- Right click and select "Align Manually".
- Scroll to the text on the right, then select the first line that you want it to align with and drag to the last line in the section.

BC will manually realign so the blocks are matched up. It's an undoable action, so you can just hit Ctrl+Z at the end to restore the original alignment, or you can use "Recompare files" if you want to maintain any edits you've done (though you'll lose the undo stack).

[mbg]

For simple one-off cases, the best approach is to use either "Compare Selection to Clipboard" or "Align Manually".

Compare Selection to Clipboard:
- Select the text on the left that's moved, and copy it to the clipboard.
- Select the moved text on the right and use the "Compare Selection to Clipboard" command. BC will open a new text comparison of just those two bits of selected text.


Align Manually:
- Select the text on the left that's moved.
- Right click and select "Align Manually".
- Scroll to the text on the right, then select the first line that you want it to align with and drag to the last line in the section.

BC will manually realign so the blocks are matched up. It's an undoable action, so you can just hit Ctrl+Z at the end to restore the original alignment, or you can use "Recompare files" if you want to maintain any edits you've done (though you'll lose the undo stack).

Thanks, Craig. The first option is pretty good for my case. Built-in 'sort' would make it a bit easier, though

Edit: I found the 'Sorted' file format, but when I use it on the side that has the selection (the one I'm comparing to the clipboard), the selection disappears.

[Aaron]

The Sorted file format is it's own, separate format, similar to loading one for tidying XML, or loading another file type. In this case, Sorted will go through and sort your entire file line by line. This would help you determine if any text was missing, but would completely re-arrange your files. If you files are not single line entires, this probably is not the method you are looking for.

Craig's suggestion for comparing to Clipboard is definitely the easiest method for a quick comparison between two text sections. It is equivalent to opening a new Text Compare, and using the Open Clipboard command on one side, then the other. "Compare to Clipboard" is just a quick shortcut for launching a new tab and comparing the selected text to previously captured text.

[mbg]

The Sorted file format is it's own, separate format, similar to loading one for tidying XML, or loading another file type. In this case, Sorted will go through and sort your entire file line by line. This would help you determine if any text was missing, but would completely re-arrange your files. If you files are not single line entires, this probably is not the method you are looking for.

Is it correct behavior that the selection be lost when the file format is changed to 'Sorted', though?

i.e. when I copy one set of lines, select another set of lines, compare clipboard to selected, and then change the file format of the 'selected' side to 'Sorted', I lose the contents of that side (that side empties).

[Aaron]

In the new tab, that shows your new sub-comparison, when you change the file format the text contents disappear? No, that should not happen.

I'll look into this and see if I can reproduce it in house and have a developer look into it.

[mbg]

In the new tab, that shows your new sub-comparison, when you change the file format the text contents disappear? No, that should not happen.

I'll look into this and see if I can reproduce it in house and have a developer look into it.

Yes, that's what I was seeing. But only in the "Selection" side. The "Clipboard" side remained intact when I changed the format to Sorted.

[Aaron]

As a workaround, instead of using Compare to Clipboard,
1) Open a new blank Text Compare
2) Copy the left text, select the left side, and use the File menu -> Open Clipboard command
3) Copy the right text, select the right side, and use the File menu -> Open Clipboard command with a new clipboard.

This should work as expected. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.